There’s a significant debate on how soon computers may achieve artificial general intelligence. The AlphaZero Project–which led one of its leaders to receive the Nobel Prize for Chemistry–is an important data point in the discussion. Here’s the intro to my article at LLRX.com.

Will computers ever achieve the holy grail of artificial general intelligence (AGI)—an intelligence that matches or surpasses human abilities across virtually all cognitive tasks? Experts disagree not only on the feasibility but also on the desirability of sch an outcome. Optimists envision an era of abundance. Pessimists fear an existential threat.

One case study suggests AGI may be closer than widely believed. In 2017, Google DeepMind’s AlphaZero taught itself more about chess in four hours than humans had managed to uncover in 1,500 years. That’s remarkable in itself, but the truly amazing part is that AlphaZero accomplished this with a level of style and creativity that even the best human players can’t understand, much less emulate.

AlphaZero’s success raises a provocative question: if a computer can teach itself a complex domain like chess in hours, what does that imply about how close we might be to machines that can teach themselves anything?

The implications of AlphaZero’s methods go far beyond board games. For example, in 2024, chemists using a similar self-learning approach won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. The National Institutes of Health report that their findings promote the development of new vaccines, enhance disease prevention, support personalized medicine, and generally deepen our knowledge of how life works at a molecular level.